Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs), such as unmanned aircraft systems weighing a few pounds, are growing in popularity and the sUAS industry is estimated to become an eight billion dollar a year industry. One of the main challenges faced in the operation of current sUASs is that current sUASs tend to have great difficulty operating in gusty or adverse wind conditions. Because of the current sUAS's light weight and relatively small size, environmental factors can have a tremendous impact on the current sUAS's ability to operate, navigate, and conduct a mission. Currently, in many areas of the United States, even if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowed the use of current sUASs for commercial flights, the environmental conditions (e.g., wind) limit operations, in some cases, to only about twenty five percent of the available flight hours. The environmental restrictions imposed on current sUASs limit the use of current sUASs by the United States' 19,000 first responder agencies and present a heavy penalty on the life saving uses of sUASs.
In addition to robust performance in varying environmental conditions, a need exists for sUASs having a combination of extended endurance, vertical takeoff and landing (V/TOL) capability, and low cost. Past attempts at multi-rotor and helicopter sUASs have had too short endurance times to meet the need. Past attempts at fixed wing sUASs have required significant takeoff and landing areas that are not suitable for all applications. Additionally, past attempts at gust resistant wing structures for multi-rotor and helicopter sUASs have encountered large penalties associated with their configurations, e.g., loss of lift, inefficient structure, etc.